Beads of Fun for Everyone

At in Cranberry, strands of beads hang from the walls and boxes of beads sit on the tables. With the choice of any color bead in any opacity — crystals, rocks and stones — customers are presented with a variety of options to create their own jewelry.

That's even if they don't think they can.

"The first thing everyone says is 'I'm not creative,'" said owner Leslie Dunahay.

But Dunahay and her small staff guide their guests in choosing the beads they favor to create a piece of jewelry as a gift for someone else or themselves. At the store on Thursday, employee Marsha Robinson, and her daughter, Mackenzie, were creating their own jewelry. Marsha Robinson was creating a Christmas tree pin while Mackenzie was deciding which beads to use for a friend's Christmas present.

Wanting to try it out myself, and using the opportunity to make a last minute gift for my mom, I joined them with the beads I had picked out — a turquoise stone and an opal bead. With each bead, I could see it coming together. Spending a little over $12, the bracelet -- once finished -- could be mistaken for a high-end piece of jewelry.

"See, you get to come in and pick real stones," Robinson said. "And it can be as inexpensive as you want."

I was beginning to understand the attraction to making jewelry.

Besides the bonus of real stones at affordable prices, Robinson and her daughter agree the process of making jewlery is a relaxing one. The table I sat at looked out on Route 19, which was packed with from holiday travelers and last-minute shoppers. The kept falling and I kept placing bead after bead until the bracelet was finished. It was a nice break from the Christmas rush.

After only reading about beading, Dunahay became hooked enough to open her own store in Cranberry in April 2007.

"I didn't know anything like [jewelry making] existed," Dunahay said. "I got a magazine about it] and just devoured it."

The first location was on , but it moved soon after opening to its current spot on Route 19 in the Excel Plaza. Dunahay also runs a store in Volant near the Grove City Outlets that opened in March 2009.

Because of building issues, Dunahay plans to close the store in Cranberry at the end of the month and move everything to Volant. She is unsure if she will reopen the store after the issue is resolved, but, she said, she is sad to leave Cranberry.

No matter the location, the store will continue to offer jewelry-making classes. With the help of her employees, Dunahay runs and teaches anywhere from six to eight classes per week. She even got her husband, Mike Dunahay, interested in teaching the classes and making the jewelry. Dunahay said he is a good teacher, plus, she enjoys getting a guy's perspective on design.

If pressed for time, the store does sell finished pieces made by Robinson, Dunahay or Dunahay's niece. They also carry some consignment pieces. Dunahay, however, likes it best when customers make their own jewelry.

"The look on their faces is priceless," Dunahay said. "It's always 'Oh my God, I made that?'"